QSE witnesses stronger buying interests of domestic institutions

The Qatar Stock Exchange on Sunday witnessed stronger buying interests of domestic institutions even as it settled weak at sub-8,400 levels.

Gulf funds were seen bullish amidst a 0.41% decline in the 20-stock Qatar Index for the tenth straight session to 8,375.18 points.Foreign institutions’ bearish grip weakened and there was also increased net buying by Gulf individuals in the market, whose year-to-date losses were at 19.75%.However, local retail investors’ buying support considerably weakened on the bourse, whose capitalisation fell 0.51% to 456.54bn.Islamic equities were seen declining faster than the main index and other indices on the market, which, however, saw weakened net buying interests from non-Qatari individuals.The market was largely swayed by selling pressure in the first 120 minutes, thus taking the index to a low of near 8,300 points, after which it was consistently on a bullish phase with strong buying especially in the last few minutes. Nevertheless, the index settled 34 points lower.Trade turnover and volumes were on the decline on the market, where telecom sector alone accounted for more than 50% of the total volumes.The Total Return Index fell 0.41% to 14,044.68 points, Al Rayan Islamic Index by 0.89% to 3,357.16 points and All Share Index by 0.53% to 2,387.52 points.The insurance index gained 1.28%, while realty shrank 1.09%, consumer goods (0.94%), industrials (0.72%), banks and financial services (0.53%), transport (0.5%) and telecom (0.18%).Major gainers included Qatar General and Reinsurance, Dlala, QIIB, Qatari German Company for Medical Devices, Aamal Company, Gulf International Services, Milaha and Nakilat; whereas Gulf Warehousing, Doha Bank, Commercial Bank, Qatar Islamic Bank, Industries Qatar, Ezdan and Mazaya Qatar were among the losers.Domestic institutions’ net buying strengthened influentially to QR8.35mn compared to QR1.52mn the previous day.The GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) retail investors’ net buying increased to QR0.64mn against QR0.54mn on September 14.The GCC institutions turned net buyers to the tune of QR0.48mn compared with net sellers of QR4.77mn last Thursday.Non-Qatari institutions’ net profit booking weakened considerably to QR12.52mn against QR34.1mn the previous day.However, local retail investors’ net buying declined substantially to QR0.25mn compared to QR33.9mn on September 14.Non-Qatari individual investors’ net buying fell marginally to QR2.78mn against QR2.9mn last Thursday.Total trade volume fell 54% to 7.87mn shares, value by 73% to QR130.54mn and deals by 58% to 1,832.There was 91% plunge in the insurance sector’s trade volume to 0.02mn equities, 92% in value to QR1.08mn and 86% in transactions to 27.The transport sector’s trade volume plummeted 87% grew to 0.36mn stocks, value by 90% to QR12.66mn and deals by 61% to 288.The consumer goods sector witnessed 86% shrinkage in trade volume to 0.07mn shares, 85% in value to QR5.2mn and 69% in transactions to 96.The industrials sector’s trade volume tanked 81% to 1mn equities, value by 78% to QR20.3mn and deals by 48% to 633.The banks and financial services sector saw 78% decline in trade volume to 1.1mn stocks, 76% in value to QR38.99mn and 63% in transactions to 430.However, the telecom sector’s trade volume soared 70% to 3.97mn shares, whereas value declined 4% to QR36.71mn and deals by 30% to 213.The real estate sector reported 14% expansion in trade volume to 1.35mn equities but on 21% fall in value to QR15.6mn and 65% in transactions to 145.In the debt market, there was no trading of treasury bills and government bonds.